Colorado Springs Christmas

Whew! It's always a great relief to finally have the house tidy, gifts loaded, suitcases packed, mail held, timers on...and be on the road!

First stop was at the Fishers' for our annual Christmas visit. When we are unloading and getting settled at their house, I can't believe it's been a year between visits. These years are clicking by. We enjoyed meeting their puppy, chasing chickens, playing Chronology, eating breakfast-for-dinner, and catching up. We are thankful for this sweet family. 

The next day, we decided to finally stop at Capulin volcano on the way to the Springs. Noelle was our "ticket" in to the park. Fourth graders and their families got free access! Thank you, lovely 4th grader! 

It was COLD up there on that volcano, and so windy. We hiked around the rim of the crater then Luke took the big kids to the center while Lucy and I enjoyed snow. Every time we pointed our lava to her, she pointed out snow. She LOVES the snow and informed us that snow and lava are pretty much opposites. Interesting thought. 

We arrived to Jack and Roxanne's new house. It was definitely a bit strange to be in a new space after so many years at 2107. We loved the views and the peacefulness of a new place. We weren't settled long before we were out  hiking again, enjoying the warm-ish Colorado December weather - 

Christmas gifts were enjoyed by all - American Girl dance accessories for the girls, laser gun set for Isaiah, clothes for me and Luke, earrings and book for Grandma, DNA kit for Granddad. Luke cooked prime rib, and we enjoyed the day!

A big highlight of our whole Colorado trip was sledding!!  We had to take a drive to find snow, but we found a perfect sledding spot with 2 hills, deep snow to roll around in (Lucy), and we pretty much had it to ourselves! This was really the first big sledding trip the kids have had, and everyone had a blast! I didn't take any pictures of the last few moments, but the sledding concluded and the kids frolicked in the snow until they were freezing - rolling, crawling, face-planting, throwing snow balls... such fun! 

Gingerbread houses! Lucy's technique was faces on every surface and "snowstorm." Noelle and Isaiah also worked carefully for quite some time to create their masterpieces. 

We also enjoyed going out for Thai food, eating at Fargo's, going to church, and having an anniversary date night at a hip, yummy restaurant. It was a delightful few days... and we were all healthy! Woohoo!

Our finale meal was hash browns and coke!